*A guest post by Art Journal Kickstarter contributor Amanda Judd.
This is the third post of a three part series about ways to encourage your daily art journaling practice. The first post addressed the importance of showing up for yourself as an artist and the second introduced establishing a goal for your daily practice to jumpstart your art making practice. This final post will look at how we can help ourselves stay on track and meet our goals.
Basically we get S.M.A.R.T. with some of our art making tasks:
S. specific (this is your final objective that includes something measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound)
M. measurable
A. achievable
R. realistic
T. timebound
Today, we’re concentrating on getting S.M.A.R.T. about a project we’d like to accomplish (see post on Creative Goal Setting).
Time:
15 minutes -2 hours.
Materials List:
Art Journal. I was working in a 11×14 spiral bound, mixed media journal with 98lb paper.
Markers + pencils.
Paint. Acrylics.
Palette knife and paint brushes.
Ephemera. Collage elements.
Scissors.
Adhesive (gel medium +/or glue).
Take a moment to check in with yourself and set an intention. I have a stack of old playing cards I’ve collaged and painted that sit on my art table at the ready. I picked one and wrote my intention on it.
Next, identify some tasks (a.k.a. objectives) that you can accomplish in order to bring you closer to your goal. It’s taken me awhile to learn that I often approach projects as if they are tasks. Projects are bigger than tasks, it helps to break them down into small pieces that you can easily do.
Whatever your objective is, take time to check in and find out how realistic it is. Do you have the resources and skills to accomplish it? How much time will you need to do it? How will you measure it (For example, I will complete five spreads.)?
Getting S.M.A.R.T. helps you be accountable to yourself which in turn develops your artistic integrity. It’s an exercise in getting real with yourself and learning how to pace yourself successfully. If you end up not doing what you said you would, that’s great information! Figure out what stopped you, what would help you, then recalibrate.
Remember to go easy and be gentle with yourself!
For more of Judd’s art, check out Art Journal Kickstarter!
If you enjoyed this post, then you might enjoy some of these DVDs!
More About Amanda Judd: I work over at Pink Love Studio. It took me a super long time to claim my artist title but I have. And now, I mix media with LOVE. For me, making art combines meditation, play and journey. It’s a process that teaches me about trust and acceptance;; an iterative feedback loop which fascinates me. It leads me on a journey into awareness + creation. I work from here, eagerly. URL: PinkLoveStudio.com E-mail: [email protected]
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